If the Hawaii Officials Wrestling Tournament serves as a preview for the season ahead, we are in for a wild ride.
Two multiple time state champions fell in the tournament at Leilehua on Saturday night, while two others were their same old dominant selves.
The upsets came from schools that are not exactly wrestling hotbeds, with Castle’s Keegan Goeas topping Hanalani’s Xander Erolin 6-5 and Diesel Del Rosario of Lanai beating Kamehameha’s Evan Kusumoto 4-2. Kusumoto and Erolin have ruled their weight classes ever since the action picked back up after the pandemic.
Goeas upset Erolin for the second straight year, evening the score between them at 2-all. Erolin beat Goeas in last year’s state final when Goeas was booed for not shaking the champion’s hand. This battle was civil between the rivals.
“We are pretty cool now, I misinterpreted something he said so I kinda felt like I had to dust it off. I want them to boo me so they can be quiet when my hand is raised. It’s just wrestling, it’s nothing personal.”
The match was selected as the main event of the tournament, putting the boys alone in front of the entire loud crowd. It may be a preview of another state clash in March.
“I want us to (meet again),” Goeas said. “If he decides to go down (in weight class) or whatever his plan is I just like that match because it’s what everyone wants and it makes me better. For me, state championships I couldn’t care less. It’s about making it to the next level and competing in college and having good competition.”
Del Rosario’s win over Kusumoto wasn’t much of a surprise, either, considering the Pine Lad beat the Warrior twice over the summer before losing the last of a three-match stretch.
“A lot of respect to Evan, he is a good wrestler and I knew how good he was and wanted this,” Del Rosario said. “When I beat him before it gave me more confidence and then when he beat me it was like a nudge forward.”
Kusumoto took the loss in stride and looks forward to a rematch. Like Erolin, Kusumoto won’t get a slam because his freshman season was canceled, so three state titles in three years would carry more weight than usual.
“I lost plain and simple, he was the better wrestler tonight,” Kusumoto said. “I know what I need to work on and I know for sure the next match is going to be different.”
Another state preview might have been in the works in back-to-back matches and Tyger Taam of Moanalua kept his hold on 138 pounds and Mikah Labuanan did the same at 144. Taam pinned Koen Shigamoto of Mililani in 2:46 and Labuanan beat ‘Iolani’s Kai Sekigawa 25-11 with a dominant third period.
Although they are in different weight classes, the juniors are halfway to a slam and figure to clash eventually even if it is in their senior years with both a win away from a slam. Saint Louis sophomore Hunter Berger also has a state slam in his sights and beat Kamehameha freshman Paliku Chang in 4:12 for the title on Saturday. Berger moved up three weight classes for the event.
Moanalua won the boys team title with 201.5 points to top Kamehameha’s 185 and Saint Louis’ 175.5.
In other finals:
Boys 106
Kalani sophomore Koan Hotema beat Moanalua freshman Aisea Soriano 10-2 to provide a glimpse of the future after they both pinned juniors in the semifinals. Hotema was especially dominant, pinning challengers in the first and second rounds.
Boys 113
Pearl City sophomore Irving Bicoy took the gold with a 5-1 upset of Eli Suan of Saint Louis. Suan was a state runner up as a freshman last year but Bicoy moved up a class to challenge him.
Boys 132
Baldwin senior Randy Esperanza won a rare battle of seniors for the crown here, beating Rylan Gasilos of Farrington by major decision 14-5. Esperanza’s biggest win might have been in the semis, where he nipped Kapolei senior and state placer Ryker Shimabukuro 5-4 in overtime.
Boys 150
Kahi Cobb-Adams of Saint Louis won a thriller over Bronson Adric in the final, getting a takedown in overtime to defend his position as the top seed. Cobb-Adams is a state runner-up, losing by three points at 145 last year. Adric reached the final when Kamehameha senior Hoakeakama Salter was injured in the first period.
Boys 165
Ethan Ito of Punahou was the tournament’s king of clutch, beating Titus Freitas of Waialua 3-2 with an escape in the third period after winning a grueling ultimate tiebreaker in the semis against Ezekiel Schulz of Radford and his largest margin of victory in four tournament matches was three. Ito took third at state last year at 182 pounds, but the state champ, Mililani’s Adrian Lee, was not in this tournament and might sit out the season to concentrate on the family business of mixed martial arts.
Boys 175
Kamehameha senior Tauataina Tuikolongahau made a statement with a 5-1 win over teammate Ramsey Nishida. Nishida knocked out top seed Jensen Tenele of Campbell in the second round. Tuikolongahau alternated easy matches with tough ones, pinning two opponents and beating the other by sudden victory.
Boys 190
Saint Louis junior Kolt McCreedie upset top seed Consantin Cramer of Mililani but that wasn’t a surprise. McCreedie then worked his way into the final, where he beat Pearl City senior Samson Edwards 6-1.
Boys 215
Waianae senior Johnny Sailele looks much improved after a 9-4 win over tough fellow senior Toa Mataafa-Grove in the final. Mataafa-Grove blitzed his way through the tournament before that, he was fourth in state at 195 last year while Sailele was sixth.
Boys 285
Lahainaluna senior Sanalio Vehikite won the heavyweight crown over favored Houston Kaahaaina-Torres of Saint Louis 6-2 after pinning his first three opponents. He led against the Crusader through the entire match.
